


Plans.

by gaybarn



Category: Half Life, Half-Life
Genre: Angst, M/M, Post-Resonance Cascade, freehoun - Freeform, half life - Freeform, half-life - Freeform, heehoo what do i tag, i kin barney so uh this is sort of my mems ig
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 06:15:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27519739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaybarn/pseuds/gaybarn
Summary: Barney sits on a roof and watches the 12/14/20 Total Solar Eclipse, and then thinks.
Relationships: Barney Calhoun/Gordon Freeman, Gordon Freeman/Barney Calhoun
Comments: 3
Kudos: 24





	Plans.

**Author's Note:**

> heehoo barney kin  
> but yeah basically this is one of my kin mems  
> if you uh dont support kinning, kindly gtfo. if you wanna learn, feel free to ask.

The once-bright skies were now covered in a pale gray as the sun settled down, hiding beneath the horizon. On the opposite side of the city, the silver moon began to rise from its hiding place, craters as visible as ever. As the skies darkened, little specks of light could be seen. Stars. Some grew bright, while others grew dim. Barney couldn’t help but watch the dimmed stars with curiosity and sympathy. Was the sympathy for himself, or for the stars? Perhaps he could see himself within those pale stars. Stars that once shimmered so brightly now barely shimmered at all. It was like him. An awful lot, really. The years hadn’t been kind on Barney in any means. He had scars littering his body. Some surgical, some not. He had crow’s feet and graying hair. He had a paler complexture and bags under his eyes. No, these 20 years had surely not been kind to him. 

Barney leaned against the back of his folded chair. It was a flimsy plastic beach chair, one he had managed to find during a housing raid. The older man brought it back to the base with him and had stored it. He hadn’t had a chance to use it, not until now. It was December 14, 2020, and there was a solar eclipse. A “total” solar eclipse, as Kleiner had called it. Scientists with all their technical terms. To Barney, it meant a whole bunch of horse shit.

Barney brought his brown, glass beer bottle up to his lips and took a sip of it, before putting it back down on the concrete below him. His eyes never left the dull stars. Looking at the stars, his mind drifted. Drifted to a particular man. A man with warm brown hair, captivating green eyes and a knowing smirk. A man of no words, yet someone who rarely stayed quiet. A man who had stolen Barney Calhoun’s heart. Said man brought his hand up to his face, running it through his hair. His thoughts continued. 

Would Gordon ever come back? What if he really was dead? What if everyone was lying, and everyone saying that “Gordon Freeman will return” was just as scared as Barney? No. They couldn’t ever be as scared as him. He knew Gordon more than anyone did. He knew Gordon didn’t like the seams of his clothes. He knew Gordon only liked his food done a particular way. He knew Gordon never liked messes and always tidied things up, even if it wasn’t his own thing. He knew Gordon liked his coffee done a certain way. He knew Gordon only liked certain candies and certain movies. He knew Gordon questioned his identity a lot. He knew Gordon had panic attacks because of small things. He knew it all. He had taken the time to get to know the “deceased” man. He had fallen head over heels for him. He had planned to propose to him and everything, as soon as the test was done. He had a ring and everything, all picked out. 

Barney lifted his hand away from his hair, and dug it into his vest’s chest pocket. Moments later, his hands pulled out a small, black box. Practically microscopic in size. Hesitantly, the man opened it, revealing a small ring inside. The ring had a beautiful green stone inside, to signify both Gordon’s eye color and his gemstone; Peridot. It wasn’t much for a ring, for Barney was working on a small salary as a college dropout. He had hoped Gordon would like it. But he never got to find out, did he?

Tears sprung in Barney’s eyes as he glanced over the ring. Gently, he pulled off his right glove and ran a finger tentatively over the ring, feeling the cold metal and sharp edges to the crown around the gem. God, what he wouldn’t give just to see Gordon wear the ring once. Soon, he began crying. Heavily crying, really. Sobbing. Barney looked up at the sky, barely able to make out the Lion constellation through his blurry vision. Barney kissed the ring gently and placed it back in the box, holding the box to his chest while he cried, closing his eyes.

“‘Miss ya, doc. I really do. I had so much planned, y’know? I know I wasn’t th’ best with relationships, but shit, I had so much planned for you. For us.”

And with that, Barney placed the box back in his chest pocket, wiped his eyes until they were stinging from pain, and took another sip of his beer. He stood up with a groan, stretching out his limbs, and then headed back inside.


End file.
